Here is a list of schools in Costa Rica, originally posted by NatureGirl321 on the General Latin America Forum back in 2003. I'm sure quite a bit of the information is probably out-of-date now, but it might be a good source to start with for an English-teaching job search for C.R.

May I suggest that we keep this thread active by replying to it in order to update the info about these places and any other schools worth mentioning?

The list of schools provided by John Hall, posted on the "Costa Rica Classroom" blog has been invaluable to me in my search for ESL opportunities in Costa Rica. Thank you!

I am particularly interested in schools outside of San Jose. Are they really that far and few between? Does anyone know of any good private language schools on or near either coast? I have found tons of Spanish Language schools (for foreigners) in these areas, but hardly any schools of English.

LaRoche, are you in Costa Rica now looking for schools, or are you searching online? I hope to find a school in Alajuela or Heredia, and I only found a few schools online in those places, although I would think there would be more.

I did get e-mails back from Victory Institute and Butler Academy (both in Heredia) asking me to stop in when I get to Costa Rica, so try looking up those and see what you think.

I'm in the US right now...searching on-line. I'm trying to set up some interviews before going to Costa Rica in March. I'll be in CR for 2 weeks and hope to secure employment while there. If everything goes well, I'd like to return to Costa Rica soon afterwards and begin teaching by May 1.

Are you planning a job-search trip to CR as well? When are you looking to move there?

I have heard good things about Heredia. While it isn't the beach, I think (for me personally since I don't do well with big cities) it would be more livable than SJ. I've also contacted Butler. I haven't heard about Victory, but I'll check it out. Thanks for the tip!

I would say that Heredia now is just an extention of San Jose. Nevertheless, some people consider it to be more livable than SJ.

Just an update about ULACIT. The Director there now is Jimmy Hernandez, not John Brown. Jimmy's email is jhernandez@ulacit.ac.cr Hiring usually only occurs before the new semesters in January, May, and September.

LaRoche,
I'm hoping to go down to Costa Rica March 15 (although it may be a couple weeks after that, depending on when I can get my school stuff wrapped up). I have a place to stay when I get there, the host family that I lived with three summers ago, and they have said I can stay as long as I need to. So I'm just going to see if I can find a job once I get down there and start as soon as I can. I'm leaning toward Heredia because it's smaller, and it's closer to Alajuela (where my host family lives) than San Jose.

I don't know much more about it than that; here's what it said in the e-mail reply I got:

We do charge our students, but since our School is not a high school or University the courses are called free courses since students don´t obtain a college degree after finishing. Students pay a low fee and study 2 or 3 hours a week, just to learn English as a Second language.
We pay our teachers an Ok amount, not too much not too little. Ok for Costaricans.

Staying with your host family sounds like a nice set-up. Maybe you can find a language school in Alajuela. I think I remember seeing a school or 2 there while surfing the internet. (Just looked at my spreadsheet though and don't have any schools on my list in Alajuela - or maybe I ruled them out and they never made it to the spreadsheet!)

Wrapping up school stuff? Are you teaching now?

I'm definitely excited for my trip to CR to check out schools and get a feel for the country and culture. I had high hopes for Heredia and I'm a bit disappointed that it's turned into an 'extension' of SJ. I had heard that it was a quaint and beautiful colonial town. Guess I'll have to see for myself.

I'm finishing up my Master of Arts in Education--I did my student teaching last semester, and now I'm writing the research paper that goes with it. It's hard to do when all I can think about is Costa Rica and the fact that it's 15 degrees out here in St. Louis!